to fool a genius
by backthehellup
Summary: In which there are some things [ and some people ] that aren't supposed to be, but are. ( spoilers from chapter 13 and beyond )
1. disowned by time

"Hey, Bubbles, can we get out of this ice pot already? My fingers are starting to feel so numb they're probably as cold as ice pops!" At the comment, Ceci simply laughs at the thief. Gaius replies with a bemused grunt and a stern gaze. He isn't going anywhere any time soon without an answer from their tactician. Such is the way with the Shepherds – no one clears the area less they have either the Ylissean prince or his tactician's permission to do so. Risen hiding after a skirmish is quite common, and the Shepherds bear the weight of the whole world on their shoulders – it won't exactly hurt to be a little more cautious than normal.

"As soon as Chrom gets back checking on the civilian, we leave." She explains, back hunched and hands inside her coat in an attempt to warm herself. She dislikes the place as much as any other, but no man gets left behind ( and leaving the prince inside this ice chamber doesn't seem to be an option, if Frederick will have anything to do with it ).

Gaius mumbles something under his breath before calling for Miriel, who is huddled with a few of the other soldiers. He leaves the tactician be and goes off to join the others. He isn't one for company but the body warmth is ever welcome.

"Brr, Ceciiii –!" Lissa stumbles over, clumsy over the slippery ice as anyone else ( they silently thank Naga that Sumia fights on a Pegasus and has opted to stay on her mount for the warmth it brings ). "I-I-I'm freezing!" the princess explains, teeth chattering to further prove her point. She's shaking from head to toe. "Can't we just _leave_ Chrom and go outside? We can wait for him out there, where's it's nice and toasty!" the tactician wants to remind Lissa that she hates the heat, but opts not to counter her.

The lost puppy dog expression on her face almost convinces their tactician, but Ceci simply shakes her head with an amused grin. "We can't. He'll have our heads, probably." She teases and coaxes a snort from Lissa. They both know Frederick would have none of their trading off the Ylissean prince for a few minutes of warmth. "Here," she motions the younger girl to come closer before taking off her signature coat and wrapping it around Lissa's shoulders. Lissa offers her a bright, appreciative grin and audibly sighs and snuggles further into the warmth of Ceci's coat. The tactician's lips curl upwards from the sight, "Better?"

"Much!" Lissa chirps, grin ranging from ear to ear.

They hear a scoff in the distance and turn to the origin. Gaius gives the tactician a grimace. "Oh, so _she_ gets to have the coat, huh?"

Lissa sticks out her tongue and yells something about hypocrisy when they see the mages and Gaius hovering over a fire no doubt made from a spare, weak fire tome and possibly the tree branch Ceci had yet to sell ( "I knew we had some use fer it!" Ceci can almost hear Donnel cheer at the use of his scavenge during one of their skirmishes ). "Don't keep it to yourself!" Lissa announces, dashing towards their little crowd and ungracefully falls on top of Ricken.

Ceci laughs, rubbing her forearms in another attempt to warm herself. It's a good thing she listened to her gut when it told her not to wear the sleeveless shirt that morning.

She shakes her head at the sight of her comrades fooling around without a care in the world. It is as if there are no war is ongoing and no fight has ever happened in the area. She breathes a contented sigh, watching her breath turn visible in a puff of steam before she takes a cautious step forward, trying not to slip around the slippery walkway. Lissa notices her walking and grins, elbowing Gaius and telling the others to make room for their beloved Tactician.

Ceci chuckles under her breath at them, shaking her head and silently telling her comrades to stay as they were, as she wouldn't want to fully intrude on them. She stops her steps once she hears Sumia's familiar call of, "Captain!" followed by Cordelia's "Welcome back, Captain Chrom."

"Thank _gods_ Chrom is here!" she hears Lissa gush out as she turns on her heels to give the Ylissean prince her own welcome. The usually smiling exalt has his lips tugged to a frown, his expression almost, if not alike, as serious as the day they marched to Plegia to take back Emmeryn. Ceci clears her throat and narrows her eyes, trying to tell what exactly is wrong.

"We need to talk." He says firmly, as if the cold isn't bothering him. Gaius makes an offhand comment about talking _outside_ of the ruins before Cordelia, of all people, elbows him to quiet down. Ceci takes a cautious step towards their captain, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What about?" she wants to ask if it couldn't wait until they were outside of the cavern. She knows quite well that most, if not all, of their soldiers were almost frostbitten. But a serious Chrom is not an everyday occurrence and she understands better than anyone else that there is no room for complaints when his expression is as grim as it is now. So she steels her nerves and is ready for whatever he plans to throw.

Chrom's face is neutral before he steps aside, silencing those who are close enough to see. Ceci's jaw hangs open at the sight of the young boy whose hair is as dark as hers. She has seen him before, she knows of it, but exactly where, she doesn't remember. He grins wide, brightening his face and seemingly lighting up the whole room. No one dares to speak until the boy breaks into a sprint, miraculously unable to slip even with his fast pace, and throws his arms around her, almost sending the both of them down to the cold floor.

"Mother!" he yells, and his voice echoes inside the ruins, bouncing off the damaged walls.

Ceci remembers now where she has seen him. It is every time she looks into a mirror.

* * *

**a/n**: this... has been in my head for a while. lots of headcanons, nowhere to place them. so here, have a fanfic that doesn't even have that much of a concrete plot [ ? ]. i'll... roll away. OTL

updates will mostly be frequent? I think! but mostly short enough to be considered drabble h.


	2. meeting in the mess tent

There is a younger, male version of her sitting across the table and Ceci is trying to look at anywhere else but him. He claims to be from the future, but none of the children know of him. He claims to have lost his memory, but he recalls her so vividly. He claims to be her son, but she has no lover in this timeline.

He claims that she is his mother, and the pendant around his neck is proof enough for the both of them.

Chrom, and the majority ( re: all ) of the Shepherds give her the evening off. After the skirmish over the ice land, and picking up this boy who claims to be their tactician's child, they say nothing to her. Chrom doesn't – can't – quite catch her eye, and Lissa seems to have a million and one things to say. Both are escorted by Frederick who nods at her solemnly, if only to acknowledge her out of respect.

Ceci earnestly wishes that they hadn't left her alone in the mess tent with this boy. At the same time, she is grateful that there will be no audience but this male version of her who claims to be her child to see her lose her mind.

The boy from across her clears his throat and gives her a bright smile. "My name is Morgan." He starts, and it seems as if this is a sentence he has practiced for more than a thousand times. "Hello, I'm your son."

A pause ( a beat ).

"I don't have a husband." She replies coolly, and yet her hands are fidgeting, fingers twitching, on top of the wooden table. Morgan pretends not to notice. "And I certainly don't have a son."

"I'm from the future." He counters, smiling still. The tactician's thoughts briefly drift to an eternally smiling , twisted Plegian mage. Henry has a similar hairstyle too, doesn't he? She shakes the thoughts out of her head when Morgan's fingers brush against the back of her hand. "And… you're the only thing… the only one I can remember."

A solemn expression quietly latches itself on the young boy's face, and suddenly he is not so young anymore. There is grief and hopelessness and a sliver of helplessness in his eyes. He blinks and all pitying thoughts move to the back of her head. Morgan looks down at their hands, her fingers securely wound around his own, and there is a small, beautiful smile that carves itself on his lips. Ceci flinches and retracts her hand quickly, clutching it against the other and wondering whenever and however did she get so soft. Morgan's expression doesn't change.

"Cecilia," he calls out and she snaps her head back to look at him, eyes wide and mouth agape. That is a name she has not heard of since what she feels is a lifetime ago. How he knows of the little girl from Plegia is beyond her. Her lips form a thin line before her shoulder's drop, exhausted.

They sit in silence before Morgan leans in, honest and earnest and repeats his earlier lines. "My name is Morgan." He starts again. The smile he wears is somber and makes him seem older than the rest of the children when he is practically the runt of the bunch. "Hello, I'm your son."

Ceci stands abruptly, surprising Morgan and herself. She opens her mouth and looks him in the eye before feeling as if her heart has dropped to her stomach.

She feels as if she has lost the ability to speak.

His eye, as if mimicking and mocking the exalted bloodline, bears the crest of the Plegian dogs' fallen god.

Her right hand twitches and her breathing is getting shallower by the second. Morgan stands up and reaches out, worry and concern written all over his face. "Mother –"

"Don't!" Both of them flinch at the volume of her voice. She swallows the lump in her throat and shakes her head, mumbling an apology under her breath. "Don't," she says, softer this time, more brittle than she's ever heard.

Ceci turns on her heel and dashes out of the mess tent, simply inches away from running headfirst into Sully and a stack of firewood. The night air is suffocating her. She prays to whoever is up there listening that she reaches her tent before she collapses.

* * *

**a/n**: aaaah. I think I finally worked out a schedule I can comply with?

updates will be on **Mondays** and **Fridays**~ ( it's late today because I was out yesterday. haha )

thank you for every support so far! /bows for an eternity.


	3. children children children

They march again to the Feroxi ports the next morning and Ceci has yet to speak a word. No one bothers her, no one tries to satisfy their curiosity and she's quite thankful. She has been avoiding Chrom for the majority of the day, but she knows she can't completely escape him. She is his right hand and sooner or later she'd have to face him for another war council, but the tactician tries her best either way.

Morgan has been hanging around Owain and Lucina around the rear, a familiar cloak slightly billowing behind him with every step ( or skip? Hop? Jump? She is very unsure of what exactly this so called son of hers is doing ). She hears soft laughter and Owain's familiar outbursts, and she can't help but crack a small smile when she looks over her shoulder to check on the children ( except they aren't children, can't be when they're almost as old as their parents ). She lowers her head in an attempt not to let the others see.

"Ain't that more like it?" she raises her head and looks up at Gaius beside her. She isn't sure when he had managed to catch up to her ( or possibly slowed down to follow her pace; she honestly isn't sure ). The thief adjusts the bag slung across his shoulder but keeps his eyes forward. She raises a brow, trying to keep her expression neutral before facing forward again.

They don't stand too close, but their arms almost touch when the silence settles in.  
"Is there anything you need, Gaius?" she asks, breaking their silence. Inigo's whines can be heard from their spot. The thief still doesn't look at her, does not even spare her a glance.

"Nothing really," he shrugs, but the tactician can tell by his slightly hushed speaking that there is something. Cynthia guffaws and slaps someone's back; judging from the yell, it's Yarne.

"Is this about Morgan?" she asks suspiciously. They hear someone yell bloody murder and half of the children cower and whimper in fear of Noire's hidden side. Gaius takes a side glance of her, looking almost offended.

"Nope, I told you, it's nothing."

"You're curious, aren't you? About his father, I mean." She glances around, eyeing the other soldiers. Lucina berates the other children. "If… if what his claim about being my son and his… his story…"

"No, Bubbles." Gaius grunts, cutting her off before she can say anything else. He looks irritated, but he keeps his voice somehow calm and cool. "Are you?" Ceci stops in her tracks, openly staring at the back of Gaius' head.

She hears Morgan laugh.

Her chest tightens and her fist clenches. She jogs quickly to catch up before they can leave her behind. She follows Gaius' pace and they fall into familiar silence until they reach the port. Gaius eyes her pendant and recalls Morgan having the exact same one.

* * *

**a/n**: another drabble ;; haha. ( there's one chapter that's ridiculously long though - m'sorry [ notreally ] )


	4. mother's intuition

Chrom slightly wonders if his tactician might be even remotely insane. Defeating their general and lowering the Valmese's morale, he can understand. Finds it quite simple and exact, to be honest. But defeating an army with only their elite, and setting their ships ( along with the Valm fleet ) on fire to assure no survivors from their onslaught? He thinks he has every right to question her sanity.

But his trust outweighs his doubt, and soon enough, Chrom is striking down their general. The rest of the Valmese army openly stare, dropping their weapons and running in frenzy at the loss of their leader.

"What now?" he pants out, sheathing Falchion as he walks towards his tactician. Her eyes are practically shining in concentration. Her eyes are shining in concentration and though she makes no motion to assure him she has heard, Chrom knows that his tactician is already calculating the exact moment they set the sea on fire.

"We let the world burn." She murmurs and Chrom practically hears her smug smirk carving itself on her face. He shouts a command overhead, letting the other soldiers know that the time is near. The soldiers around him are nervous, he hears one murmur a curse and a prayer.

Chrom braces himself as Ceci's hands tighten around her fire tome. It needs only a few weak incantations and the Plegian's oil supply for her and the other mages. Chrom looks around and sees that their mages are already set, tomes on hand. He worries slightly about Tharja and Henry, but Libra and Olivia are with them and he's fairly certain those two are enough to satiate the ex-Plegian dark mages and ensure their safety. Miriel is on another boat, but Gregor is already looming over her, eager to jump out of the vessel in a moment's notice.

Chrom can vaguely make out the rest of the Valmese fleet in front of them with the rest of their own behind. He exchanged a look with his tactician and she nods in response.

"Steady!" He yells, and it is the mages' cue to take aim and start reading their incantations. Ceci raises her hand once she spots the oil barrels on the vacant Ylissean ship in the middle of the sea. Chrom turns on his heel and rushes to jump out of their kamikaze ship. "Now!"

From the corner of his eye he finds the pegasi and wyvern riders taking as many of their soldiers back to the clear fleets. He manages to land with a forward roll, standing up with some help from Gaius as he runs back to the rails and calls for Ceci. Their tactician whirls around and grins almost manically at him, but stops in her tracks only a moment later. Lucina joins him near the railings and scowls. "What is she doing?" she asks and Chrom honestly can't answer.

Chrom hears a gasp and a strangled "Ceci, _no_!" and his attention is back on the burning fleet. His tactician is lost from her original spot. "That _idiot_!" he hears Gaius yell, his cloak is already lying on the ground and he looks ready to mount Minerva any second. Libra is still dressing Cherche's wounds, but the wyvern's mistress expresses her disproval to let Gaius on her precious Minerva anyway.

Lucina gasps, staring at the crowd. Chrom turns to his daughter and her face is absolutely drained of colour. "Morgan isn't here." Her voice isn't even above a whisper.

Chrom's hit head on with a shocking realization.

Of all the time she decides to try and be a mother – Chrom calls out her name again. Sumia mounts her Pegasus but even Vaike knows it's practically suicide for both rider and mount to even try. Lucina isn't willing to lose her mother a second time either. Amidst their argument, they hear a loud splash, a tell-tale sign of something breaking the surface of the water. Most rush over the edge of the ship, craning their necks in an attempt to see what exactly is going on. Chrom sends a short prayer to Naga for the safety of his tactician and her family.

They hold their breaths.

There's bubbles coming up before the surface of the sea breaks again and they catch the familiar mess of dark midnight-hued hair fanning against the water. They waste no second more as Lucina calls for Gerome and the wyvern rider is already off in the sky, sweeping over the flaming ships. Wyverns have always been more tolerant with the heat.

Chrom watches as Ceci hoists up what seems to be an unconscious Morgan over Minerva's back. He heaves a sigh of relief much like the others as they see Gerome fly back up the skies mere seconds before another oil tank explodes, fully engulfing the fleets in flames once and for all.

"The sea itself is on fire!" Lissa gasps out, marvelling at the red flames replacing the blue sea. He reminds her lightly that she still needs to fix up Sully's slightly dislocated shoulder.

Only a few seconds pass before Minerva lands back on their vessel. Chrom is no doubt first in line on berating their tactician on her more than foolish decision. He stops short with all he wants to say thrown out the window when Gerome gently eases her down, Morgan clutching tightly on her coat. Even Cordelia and Libra hold their tongues when their eyes fall on the two tacticians.

"Now look here you idiot – are you seriously a genius because that was the stupidest thing –" Chrom doesn't need to shut Gaius up, silently thanking Miriel for elbowing the thief into silence. A small crowd gathers in a semi-circle, a comfortable distance away from their tactician and her son, allowing them some room.

Chrom quietly watches as Ceci raises a shaky hand, teeth slightly chattering from the cold breeze, before brushing away wet strands of hair from Morgan's face. Brady steps forward, his staff in hand and a bag full of vulneraries and concoctions slung on his shoulder.

"He's fine…" she murmurs, they strain their ears to hear her. "He inhaled a bit of smoke but… but he's fine." Morgan coughs for a good few seconds as if to prove her point before succumbing to sleep once again. "Don't… don't waste the staves on us. Check the wounded."

Her voice sounds so soft and so vulnerable that Chrom wants to yell at both her to not fall asleep and the rest of the crew so she can get some rest. He looks up to tell her something but she is already fast asleep. Stahl breaks through the crowd and wraps a blanket around her, carefully prying off Morgan's almost iron grip on her coat. He does the same with Morgan before Vaike jogs slightly to join him, ungracefully slinging the child over his shoulder almost like a potato sack. Morgan doesn't even stir.

"Ogre's teeth, this kid is light! Who's on mess duty tonight?" Noire timidly raises her hand. "Yeah, well! Listen to 'ol Teach and give this kid some extra, aight? No wonder he's going off and fainting and all that!" Vaike grunts and turns to Stahl, carrying Ceci in a bridal manner.

"We'll take them to the cabins below deck so they can get some rest." Stahl informs him. With a nod from Chrom, he and Vaike scurry downstairs, Cordelia and Lissa hot on their trails as they shout something about undressing and catching a cold. Chrom clears his throat and turns back to his soldiers on board.

"We should have had at least three more days until Valm, but circling around this hell pit requires an extra day." He reminds himself to congratulate Ceci later for such a large scale success. He pats his past self on the back for picking up the amnesiac tactician in the fields that day. "Though we have won today, we still have a war brewing ahead of us in the days to come. You are all dismissed unless the need to call for our lot arises."

The group scatter, some heading down the cabins while the wounded and the healers stay above deck gathering their materials to finish their task before dinner. Lucina is by his side, stone faced but looking a tad bit shaken up as she takes a glance at the fire dying down in the distance.

"They'll… they'll be alright." Her tone seems unsure, as if she's asking him instead of reassuring. Chrom places a hand on her shoulder and gives her what he hopes is a gentle enough smile. He squeezes lightly and Lucina gives him a small grin of her own.

"They'll be fine."

He hopes.

* * *

**a/n**: hello! have a Chrom!Centered!chapter! updates will be done on** Fridays only** because school is starting up again for me. u v u;;

thank you, everyone!


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